Cycle Fun Montreal

Cycling inside and outside Montreal.

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Giant Covey Hill-Chateauguay valley ride

Ormstown - south on Jamestown road & east on Tullochgorum road - south on Brysonville sideroad - past "The Rock" - south from Aubrey - to St-Chrysostome - to Havelock - to Concession 1, turn west here and the next 45 km follows along the US-Canada border on the first road north of border, until 2 km past Rt 138) - up Covey Hill - down in to Franklin and I took the busy and narrow route 202 west past Frnklin apple Orchard stores to - Concession 1 - Powerscourt- Rt 138 (near Trout River) - Ridge Road - Then east zigging zagging north of and parallel to Rt 138) - Dewittville - and back to Ormstown on the 138A.

Unusually for me, this a clockwise ride. I normally head west for the first leg, up the river, and then come back by covey hill. This time I warmed up with a tailwind.

Summary: 130 km spring ride, great roads (many newly resurfaced), great views from Covey Hill and the Ridge Road, powerscourt covered bridge (pont Percy), and I had great energy all day, including the big climb from Havelock to the top of Covey hill.

Lots of new terrain, the ride back via ridge road and various roads east from this point were all impressive: interesting, views, curvey, good road quality, all this adds up to... a great ride!

A really great ride, one of the best I've done.

In the amazing department: I saw ten thousand goose take off, and thousands more in the sky. Wow.

The road quality was frequently excellent, the road along the border is mainly BRAND NEW! There were very few bad sections of pavement.

This was about a 6 hour ride with a few short breaks, no big breaks, no food except a chocomilk in St-Chrysostome. Got home 30 minutes after sunset.

A great ride, I really had a great day. The only cyclists I saw was a pack about to descend Covey hill towards Havelock, just as I hit the top of the climb. Here is someone from Velomag discussing why Covey Hill is his favorite Monteregie ride (hint: a hill!) The Covey Hill note is at the bottom of the page.

Another good reason to visit here is the "cafe panaramique" just before the last steepest section at the top of Covey Hill. This is the best view in southern Quebec. On a clear day of course. I could see Jay Sutton, Pinnacle, Deux Montagnes, Mont Royal, the Montregienne hills, and more down into Vermont. Amazing 270 degree vista from Rigaud, the st-laurence river valley, the Richelieu river valley, and the Champlain basin.

The ride west-to-east along "the ridge road: north of Huntingdon was also superb. Excellent views of the foothills and northern peaks of the Adirondacks in New York State. The Adirondacks are part of the Canadian Shield, and not part of the Appalachian chain, a common error I hear frequently.

A note about spring riding. With the leaves still missing the views are better, and it reveals the landscape that would otherwise be hidden. So it's good to ride in all seasons!

Bike Paths open 12 months...

Montreal bike paths are opening tomorrow, and today's Saturday La Press has an article about keeping bike paths open for use a full 12 months a year.

Yes, this means all through winter.

La Presse coverage of urban cycling is generally excellent. Last year they had many good articles to promote urban cycling as a transportation alternative. Montrealers have the choice of walking, bicycle, Transit (bus/Metro), and the car. All are useful methods of getting around, and I use them all, in the same order as I write them. The bicycle is the preferable method for medium distance and maximum flexibility.

Here is the La Presse article on the pressure to open Montreal area bike paths year-round. Click here. OK, the article isn't on their website (yet) but it should be there soon. Until then, here's a link to their Cyberpresse search engine, search for the word cyclables or vélos and get out and ride!

Pont Jacques Cartier Bridge open

The excellent Pont Jacques Cartier Bridge bike path/sidewalk from Montreal to the south shore is now open (since thursday). Initially it is the outbound traffic side that is open, but the inbound direction side will open early next week.

Now, can they please widen the sidewalk for the last 600 metres on the south shoer when the bridge touches ground and before it reaches the street. They didn't widen this section of the sidewalk when they re-did the bridge a few years ago.

Some signage and maps when cyclists arrive on the south shore would also be welcome.

On the bright side, they did widen 5 km of bridge sidewalk/bike path when they redid the bridge. It's really great, but we need to put pressure onthe powers-that-be to please finish the job.

Montreal Bike Paths open on April 1

This means that we can have safer routes to travel through Montreal when we use our bikes.

This doesn't apply to the Rachel street bike path, which in my opinion is much too dangerous to be called a safer way for bikes to travel through Montreal.

Starting this year. bike paths are open another 30 days of the year, from April 1 to November 15. Happily this year they co-ordinated with the jacques Cartier bridge to reopen the bridge's bike/pedestrian sidewalk. This bridge takes you the 5 km from Montreal across the Saint Laurence river to the south shore, and many great places to ride and lots of great loop rides.

The route: Go to CVR, (west of Ormstown on 138A) -> Dewittville -> turn left to Rockburn (all the way to concession 1), turn left, follow most southern road in Quebec, take Route 209 south uphill, turn (before US customs!) left on Covey Hill Road, after a few miles of new pavement, turn left at fork in road, on "Mtee" Covey Hill, turned right on Brooks, to 202 (right, and endure a mile of busy road), then left on 201 north downhill to St Antoine Abbe, at northern tip of town, turn right at gas station (north) then right on road that will turn north to the Rock/ Reserve ecologique Pins Rigide, continue downhill to St Pierre (where the headwind hit again), then I turned west (left to Tullochgorum road to Ormstown.

Weather was combo of spring perfect sunshine, and some headwind and cold cloudy. 60 km ride, this is an old favorite ride of mine, that takes you through numerous eco-zones.

Checking back, I did this ride as my season opener last year too. here's how I described it then: click here

Saturday, March 24, 2007

montreal bike paths 2007

We are promised big improvements in 2007, sort of under the breath, just wait for the announcement... Well we're waiting, and we've been waiting since the last batch of bike paths were installed in the early 90s. We got a taste last year with some improvements on the plateau, and I expect to see some sort of bike path through the new pine-parc interchange, I mean new pine-parc intersection. And a cross-downtown bike path. And more bike stands. And greater integration of bike path and transit system, maybe we will get bike paths added to the metro/bus maps? Hmmm?

Still, any improvement is a good thing, and we're ready for more. Make it easier to bike to work, and people will bike to work!

Friday, March 16, 2007

Quebec Cycling Clubs

Joining a cycling club is a great way to find a group to go bike riding with. Organized road rides are offered by all cycling clubs, to find one in your area visit Velo Mag's link to quebec cycling clubs.

Mont Megantic - Tour de Beauce

The climb up Mont Megantic in Parc Megantic is incredible. It's one of the biggest climbs in the east. Are you going there this year?

Some quotes about Beauce and Mont Megantic cycling:

"On Wednesday the riders face the longest stage of 180 kilometers, with three rated climbs, followed on Thursday by the feared Mont Megantic stage, which finishes at over 1100 meters, with an average gradient of over 12 percent for the last 5 kilometers." click here to read article

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Les Cedres Bike Ferry

I have learned that there is a bike ferry between Les Cedres (The Cedars) west of Montreal along (nearby) the Canal Soulanges bike path, The ferry connects with the Iles st-Timothé park and Valleyfield island. You can ride a loop back along the Beauharnois canal/St-Laurence seaway bike paths, and back through Valleyfield, possibly along the dams, to the canal soulanges again.